TIA is a performance pay teacher evaluation system that may award additional compensation to teachers based on predetermined effectiveness criteria. This means that the most effective teachers in the district have an opportunity to earn additional compensation and that the District will carve out a growth trajectory for developing teachers to aim for the same goal.

At a minimum, the teacher must have a valid SBEC certificate and be coded 087 (Teacher) per Public EducationInformation.

Based on TIA requirements, the evaluation criteria must include both a teacher observation and a student performance component.  While we will create our own process for assessing observations and student performance, the state has established a set of guidelines for measuring exceptional effectiveness that we must adhere to.

As of now the mechanisms we are considering to assess teacher observations and student growth will be T-TESS, STAAR, Student Learning Objectives, and possibly other assessments for non-tested grades and subjects.

While it is not required, we may decide to use other measures in determining the teachers’ effectiveness as well, such as student surveys.

The idea of using multiple criteria to measure teacher effectiveness, e.g. observations and student growth, is referred to as the use of multiple measures.  For every TIA eligible teacher we will track progress against these measures over the course of the school year.  Detailed TIA Texas Designation System Requirements are available on tiatexas.org.

• Teachers will receive regular development, feedback and progress updates to keep them abreast of their TIA status.
• Over the course of the school year TIA eligible teachers will receive multiple T-TESS observations and follow standardized student assessment protocol.  
• When a full year of data, e.g. T-TESS observations and student growth scores, has been collected, that information will be used to calculate a composite score for each eligible teacher.  Based on the composite score each teacher will be assigned a designation.  
• Teachers may receive performance-based incentives based on their designation.  The designation details and funding allocation have yet to be determined.  Teachers will be engaged exploring implementation options for both. Refer to this tool from TIA Texas to determine how much each East Central ISD campus is eligible to receive.  Note that the final amount actually allocated to each campus depends on a number of variables.

The work we are undertaking to secure TIA funding for the district is a multi-year process. TIA Texas established a rolling application process, whereby districts can apply in one of many cohorts. East Central ISD is applying in Cohort E. The high-level timeline and for our application and designations is noted below:

Cohort F

Data-Capture Year: 2023-2024

System Application Posted: Nov. 1, 2022

System Application due to TEA (no fee required for submission): April 15, 2023

System Application Result Final Notification: August 15, 2023

Data Review due to Texas Tech University (data processing fee required for each teacher put forth for designation): November 1, 2024

Final Approval Notification: Late February 2025

Final Designation and Allotment Notification: April 2025

Initial Payout with Reimbursements for Approved Systems: September 2025 or September 2026* (*if the district chooses to hold designations)

When it comes to TIA, this school year will be focused on gathering community input and feedback to inform the design of our TIA programming. While TIA Texas has set a number of strict requirements, we have an opportunity to customize the TIA program so that it matches the culture, goals and needs of East Central ISD. A few of our current plans for Stakeholder engagement are described below. The application we submit in April 2023 will reflect the preferences and priorities of East Central ISD teachers and leaders.

Multiple surveys will be administered to the entire District to gauge preferences on topics like TIA scoring, funding allocation and understanding of TIA and investment in the program overall.  

A steering committee will prepare and review the stakeholder feedback. A task force will take a deeper dive and seek feedback on the TIA classroom observation model, student growth measures, designations and scoring to make decisions based on the feedback.

A TIA Planning and Announcements webpage will be launched and updated regularly to share recent information on the status of the TIA work happening in East Central ISD. At key milestones, website updates will be accompanied by a districtwide email blast. Everyone is encouraged to visit the website often and keep an eye out for TIA mail.

As a school district, we want to reward highly effective teachers who get results. It is essential that we ensure our students are learning from great teachers who are doing amazing things and experiencing better than average growth. We believe it is important to provide the opportunity for highly effective teachers to earn more without having to leave the classroom.

Our goal in 3-5 years is for all teachers to have the opportunity to participate in the Teacher Incentive Allotment. In our initial application, we are including a subset of teachers, not yet determined. If we are approved, we will have the opportunity to apply to expand the grade levels and/or content areas in the following years.

As noted above, ECISD’s Teacher Incentive Allotment will be phased-in over a period of years.  This innovative approach to differentiate compensation is designed to direct additional pay to teachers who qualify for the three tiers: 

• Master – Top 5% of the state 
• Exemplary – Top 20% of the state 
• Recognized / National Board Certification – Top 1/3 of the state

ECISD’s goal is to reward excellent teachers who show evidence that students who are enrolled in their classroom grow academically.  In order to do that, we must use a system that accurately measures growth and performance. Many measures will be reviewed before a determination is made.

During the 2023-2024 school year, data will be collected for an overall rating. The three data components used for the overall rating are: T-Tess Observation Ratings, Student Growth, and Campus Growth. Once the data is compiled and submitted, teachers will be ranked in comparison to other teachers in the state. Teachers who fall into at least the top 1/3 in the state will be given a designation and funds will be awarded during the 2024-2025 school year.

TEA designates that at least 90% of the funds received will be spent on teacher compensation on the campuses where the designated teacher works. Each campus is designated as Tier 1,2,3,4, or 5 according to the percentage of economically disadvantaged students enrolled. The funds available for designations are:

• Master Level $12,000 - $32,000
• Exemplary Level $9,000 - $18,000
• Recognized Level $3,000 - $9,000.

The deadline to submit the application to TEA is April 2023. The data capture year is 2023-2024. The District will receive a determination of system approval in Spring 2025.  If we receive approval, the initial state funding flows to the District in the Spring 2025 or Fall 2026.

No, the ‘Master’ teacher designation is not tied to the master teacher certification.  A ‘Master’ teacher designation will be based on the results of the evaluation system designed by East Central ISD.  However, National Board Certified teachers will automatically earn a "Recognized" TIA designation.

LEAs must verify that each teacher meets the following eligibility requirements before submitting them for a designation:

• The teacher must have a valid SBEC certificate. Eligible types of certificates include Standard, Professional, Provisional. Eligible classes of certificates include Classroom Teacher (Chapter 233), Reading Specialist (Chapter 239), Legacy Master Teacher http://ritter.tea.state.tx.us/sbecrules/tac/index.html
• The teacher must be coded as 087 (Teacher) per the Public Education Information Management System (PEIMS) description of codes for 90 days at 100% of the day (equivalent to four and one-half months or a full semester) or 180 days required at 50-99% of the day and compensated for that employment

The state does not set a limit on the number of teachers that can receive TIA. However, TEA provided guidance on the percentage of teachers who should be assigned each designation.

TEA provided guidance on the percentage of teachers who should be assigned each designation.  The goal of the guidance is to ensure that there is a consistent standard used to identify the most effective teachers across the state.  So that the percentages are not used to set an arbitrary bar for excellence, they are paired with expected T-TESS and student growth performance standards/scores.  “Performance standards were designed to guide districts to identify the most effective teachers in the state.” - TEA Performance standards provide a data-driven mechanism for holding all teachers to the same standard when seeking a TIA designation.  The absence of a standard bar could lead to inequities across districts and campuses.  Every eligible teacher has an equal opportunity to access TIA funds.  The guidance should be interpreted as facilitating the identification of e.g. the top 5%, top 25%, etc. of teachers in the state, but not limiting any individual teachers’ access to TIA funding.  

For additional information on TIA visit tiatexas.org or view the official TIA FAQ.